0:00:06 > 0:00:09There are some islands that are so removed and distant
0:00:09 > 0:00:14from the mainland, they seem almost forgotten by the rest of the world.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16It's incredible to think
0:00:16 > 0:00:20that beyond the sight of any land, way over the horizon,
0:00:20 > 0:00:22and in the most unlikely places,
0:00:22 > 0:00:24there are tiny islands
0:00:24 > 0:00:28where our ancestors once lived and made their homes.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34In this series, I am continuing my island grand tour,
0:00:34 > 0:00:37visiting the most northerly of the Shetland Islands,
0:00:37 > 0:00:39exploring the Outer Hebrides
0:00:39 > 0:00:44and discovering the secrets of the loneliest places in Britain.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47To see them through the water like this, it is amazing.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51Scotland boasts a wonderful array of islands.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54In fact, there are nearly 300 of them
0:00:54 > 0:00:58and that is not counting the myriad of stacks, rocks and skerries that
0:00:58 > 0:01:04surround 6,000 miles of coast from the Atlantic Ocean to the North Sea.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11For this grand tour, I am seeking solitude among Scotland's
0:01:11 > 0:01:14smallest and remotest islands.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30Leaving Harris, my route crosses the Sea of the Hebrides,
0:01:30 > 0:01:33visits the Archipelago of the Shiants,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36heads east to the romantic Isle of Ewe,
0:01:36 > 0:01:40and finishes on the sea bird city of Handa.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49The Shiants lie in the middle of the Minch, the stretch of water
0:01:49 > 0:01:53that separates the Outer Hebrides from Skye and the mainland.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57To get there, I am taking a fast RHIB from Harris.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59That's the Shiants over there.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04Jagged fragments of land that look like broken teeth on the horizon.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10These tiny uninhabited islands seem remote to us today,
0:02:10 > 0:02:12but when sea travel was king,
0:02:12 > 0:02:16the Shiants were in the middle of an important sea lane.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20And people lived on these beautiful islands for centuries.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25But today, because of their remoteness, they are seldom visited.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32The permanent human population of the Shiants left long ago,
0:02:32 > 0:02:36ending a history of habitation that goes back thousands of years.
0:02:36 > 0:02:42Iron Age people, Celtic monks and Vikings all left an imprint here.
0:02:42 > 0:02:47By the beginning of the 20th century, the Shiants were only sporadically
0:02:47 > 0:02:51inhabited by occasional fishermen and seasonal shepherds.
0:02:51 > 0:02:56Then in 1925, the islands were bought by the novelist Compton Mackenzie,
0:02:56 > 0:03:00who converted the old shepherd's bothy into a writer's retreat.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06Best known for his books Whisky Galore
0:03:06 > 0:03:09and Monarch Of The Glen, McKenzie was a colourful character,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12born in England to a theatrical family.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15During World War I,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18he was recruited by British intelligence and worked as a spy.
0:03:19 > 0:03:24Although he was born English, Mackenzie had a Scottish soul.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26He immersed himself in Scottish culture
0:03:26 > 0:03:29and became a founder member of the SNP.
0:03:30 > 0:03:35Compton Mackenzie loved islands almost as much as he loved Scotland.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37In fact, he collected them.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40After living on various islands in the Mediterranean and the
0:03:40 > 0:03:45Channel Islands, he bought the Shiants to become closer to his Scottish roots.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48And he absolutely loved it here.
0:03:48 > 0:03:49And I can see why.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58Continuing east across the Minch, I head towards the mainland
0:03:58 > 0:04:00and the Isle of Ewe.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04I love you. I love you, I love you.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07It's a sin to tell a lie.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10Because when you say it, "Isle of Ewe",
0:04:10 > 0:04:12it sounds like a proposal of marriage.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16Which perhaps explains why it has been known for lovestruck men
0:04:16 > 0:04:22and women to beat a path to its shores to pop the question.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24Just over there on the I Love You.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30There is no public ferry service to the island,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33which is just 2km long by 1km wide.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38Skippering her own boat from the mainland is Jane Grant.
0:04:38 > 0:04:44Jane once sailed the world as a ship's engineer on oceangoing merchant ships.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Her own romantic connections with the Isle of Ewe
0:04:47 > 0:04:50began when her husband proposed.
0:04:50 > 0:04:56I met my husband on a ship in Karachi and he is from this island.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00Now, a mutual friend phoned me up before I went out and said,
0:05:00 > 0:05:03"Oh, give my regards to Willie Grant,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06"he is a nice bloke, you'll like him."
0:05:06 > 0:05:07And I said, yeah, right(!)
0:05:07 > 0:05:08HE CHUCKLES
0:05:08 > 0:05:14I had absolutely no intentions of falling in love
0:05:14 > 0:05:17or having a relationship with anybody at all. But there you go.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20- We just hit it off.- What was his job on board?- He is a radio officer. Yes.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23So he was upstairs on the airwaves and you were down in the depths...
0:05:23 > 0:05:25- That's right. - Maintaining the engines.- Yes, yes.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28So you managed to get on the same wavelength?
0:05:28 > 0:05:29LAUGHTER
0:05:34 > 0:05:37The Grants have been tenant farmers on the Isle of Ewe
0:05:37 > 0:05:40since the middle of the 19th century.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42Shortly after Jane moved to the island,
0:05:42 > 0:05:46she took up scallop farming to help with the family finances.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50But over the years, the wild scallop stocks
0:05:50 > 0:05:55and the whole biomass of the West Coast have been seriously depleted.
0:05:56 > 0:05:5920 years ago, if you wanted to do scallop farming,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02you would put spat bags out, which were basically like onion bags...
0:06:02 > 0:06:06- Uh-huh.- And you would put them out in the sea at the right time of year
0:06:06 > 0:06:08and tiny little scallops would settle on them.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12- But now, if I put spat bags out, I get no scallops back.- Really?
0:06:12 > 0:06:15- It's all gone.- It is a serious as that?- There it is, it is all gone.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19- Is that because the adult scallops are not there to reproduce themselves?- That's right.
0:06:19 > 0:06:24You know, we are just getting to the stage where something needs to be done.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27So now we are looking at hatchery technology.
0:06:27 > 0:06:28Here in Scotland,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31we have got the best growing waters in the world for scallops and we are
0:06:31 > 0:06:36talking about Scottish scallops produced in a hatchery and then put
0:06:36 > 0:06:40back into the sea exactly where we took them from in the first place
0:06:40 > 0:06:43to grow on and become full-grown.
0:06:43 > 0:06:48Back out on the loch, Jane shows me how her young scallops are doing.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53- Here they come, your scallops.- Yes, this is scallops in the lantern.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56- They are one year old.- They are quite big for a year of growth.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58Yes, it's not bad.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02They will go on the seabed this September
0:07:02 > 0:07:05and then it will be another four years before we harvest them.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08So it is a five-year process.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11You call this scallop ranching rather than scallop farming -
0:07:11 > 0:07:13what's the difference? Why ranching?
0:07:13 > 0:07:16If you think of the big ranches in America
0:07:16 > 0:07:20where you have got cattle just roaming around, free,
0:07:20 > 0:07:22that is exactly what we are doing.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27It is not really farming in the sense that you have salmon farming.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30They are only caged for their first year and only to look after them.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33After that, they are literally thrown back out to sea.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37They will all spawn at least three times before we harvest them.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41So that will be putting more biomass back into the...back into the area.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43So, eventually,
0:07:43 > 0:07:47we should be able to increase the amount of wild scallops in the area.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52Jane selects her fully grown scallops by hand.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58I join her for a chilly dunk in the briny.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04But I have what appears to be a wardrobe malfunction.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06GRUNTS
0:08:06 > 0:08:09Well, I seem to have a lot of buoyancy, Jane.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11I've blown up like a Michelin man.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14SHE LAUGHS
0:08:14 > 0:08:15Oh, I can't stop laughing!
0:08:15 > 0:08:18I will just stay safely on the surface
0:08:18 > 0:08:19and I will let you take the plunge.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22But I don't think there is any way I'm going to get down at all.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24Blown up like this, Frankly.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26SHE LAUGHS
0:08:26 > 0:08:29It's impossible to sink!
0:08:29 > 0:08:31I'm bobbing up and down like a buoy!
0:08:31 > 0:08:35I didn't think you were going to look like that.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37Neither did I!
0:08:38 > 0:08:42Composing ourselves finally, Jane takes a deep breath
0:08:42 > 0:08:44and prepares to dive.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46Happy hunting. Okey-doke.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49- I will just lurk around here on the surface.- Very good.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07I watched Jane to see how her sustainably produced scallops
0:09:07 > 0:09:09are doing on the seabed.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14With the right investment, she hopes her new business will produce
0:09:14 > 0:09:17up to ten million mature scallops every year.
0:09:19 > 0:09:20Here she comes!
0:09:20 > 0:09:24- Here she comes. Hi, Jane. What have you got?- There we go.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27- Fresh out the sea. - Absolutely beautiful.
0:09:27 > 0:09:33- How old are they?- Four to five years old.- That is fantastic.- Yes.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36- That is the sustainable future. - That's it.
0:09:36 > 0:09:41Beautiful scallops fresh from the sea and soon on my table.
0:09:41 > 0:09:46- Dinner tonight.- Absolutely. Dinner for two, Jane. On the Isle of Ewe.
0:09:46 > 0:09:47Excellent.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53It's good to know that the peaceful waters of Loch Ewe are being put
0:09:53 > 0:09:56to productive use.
0:09:56 > 0:10:01But 70 years ago, the remoteness of this part of Scotland made it
0:10:01 > 0:10:03a no-go area to the public.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08Just up the coast from the Isle of Ewe is an island that was
0:10:08 > 0:10:11once considered to be so remote and solitary, it was
0:10:11 > 0:10:16chosen as the location for Britain's biological warfare experiments.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22This is Gruinard Island.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26It seems incredible that experiments with a weapon of mass destruction
0:10:26 > 0:10:27took place here.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32This top-secret film, shot in 1940,
0:10:32 > 0:10:36shows deadly anthrax spores being released to infect sheep.
0:10:37 > 0:10:38It is a chilling reminder
0:10:38 > 0:10:42of how desperate the situation was during the war.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Anything that might prevent defeat was justified.
0:10:46 > 0:10:47Even poisoning an island.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53About 20 years ago, the government undertook an extensive clean-up operation
0:10:53 > 0:10:57on Gruinard Island over there.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00The ground was soaked with a solution of seawater
0:11:00 > 0:11:04and formaldehyde to kill off the deadly anthrax spores.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07And today, it is entirely safe.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09Apparently.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11Well, I don't know.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13I think I will give it a miss!
0:11:16 > 0:11:20To put some distance between me and anthrax island,
0:11:20 > 0:11:24I am moving up the coast to a tiny archipelago
0:11:24 > 0:11:28that luxuriates in the glorious title of the Summer Isles.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31Guiding me through this beautiful
0:11:31 > 0:11:34and remote stretch of water is Julie Ann McLeod,
0:11:34 > 0:11:39where she and fellow guide Rory run kayaking safaris.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42That's it. Remember to twist that body.
0:11:42 > 0:11:47Like most things that look easy, paddling requires technique,
0:11:47 > 0:11:50and Julie Ann is a strict teacher.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52- Twist that body. Rotate. - I'm twisting the body,
0:11:52 > 0:11:54I'm trying to twist the body. Oh, dear.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56- There you go. - Oh, it's my kidneys.
0:11:56 > 0:11:57SHE CHUCKLES
0:11:57 > 0:11:59You're feeling now that you've actually got some
0:11:59 > 0:12:02movements down underneath your cockpit?
0:12:02 > 0:12:04I beg your pardon?! THEY LAUGH
0:12:04 > 0:12:08- That's not...- It's exciting, Jules, but not that exciting!- That's not...
0:12:08 > 0:12:11- Come on!- ..what I meant. I meant with your legs, Paul!
0:12:11 > 0:12:13Movement down my cockpit!
0:12:13 > 0:12:15THEY LAUGH
0:12:16 > 0:12:20Feeling increasingly confident in the cockpit department,
0:12:20 > 0:12:25we explore the intricacies of the islands, their geology and wildlife.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28It's a very narrow passageway we are trying to get through here, Jules.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32- Yes.- Are we going to make it? - Yes, we are going to make it.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35Oh, this is narrow! Ooh...
0:12:37 > 0:12:41And emerging into...
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Look at that arch!
0:12:43 > 0:12:47No-one knows for sure why these islands are called the Summer Isles.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49It might be because of the summer grazing
0:12:49 > 0:12:51and fishing then went on here.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55But Julie Ann believes the name is much older.
0:12:55 > 0:13:00In Gaelic, the Summer Isles are called Na h-Eileanan Samhraidh.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Samhraidh is Norse for summer.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06- So the Vikings must have been here at one time...- Absolutely.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09Or have been around long enough to name the islands.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13Yeah, the Vikings were here and they had a huge influence.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18- There used to be families living here in the 1800s...- Really?- Yes.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20- What, crofting out here?- Yeah.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24A really harsh environment to survive in.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28We are very remote and with that brings beauty,
0:13:28 > 0:13:30but it also brings some challenges.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37Julie Ann is right.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40The beauty and solitude of the Summer Isles allow you
0:13:40 > 0:13:43to feel as close to nature as it gets.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45But she wants to take this even further
0:13:45 > 0:13:49and get back to basics with some Hebridean bush tucker.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51So what are we going to do now, then?
0:13:51 > 0:13:55- We are going to do a little bit of foraging.- Foraging?- Foraging, yes.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57Right. Is that in the absence of having prepared a meal?
0:13:57 > 0:13:59SHE CHUCKLES
0:13:59 > 0:14:01- Are you hungry? - I'm absolutely starving...- Well...
0:14:01 > 0:14:05Because all that paddling has really worked up a tremendous appetite.
0:14:05 > 0:14:06So I could eat a horse.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14While I realise that foraging is very fashionable with the modern gourmet,
0:14:14 > 0:14:18I'm not entirely sure how many Michelin stars today's lunch
0:14:18 > 0:14:20is going to get.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23We are going to try and surprise some limpets.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25- The limpets as you can see... - Are you serious?
0:14:25 > 0:14:27- We are going to eat the limpets? - Yeah, yeah.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29We are going to cook some limpets on the fire.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33OK, little limpets, I am going to give you the surprise of your life.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35- Yeah!- I surprised that one!
0:14:36 > 0:14:39The main course, naturellement, wouldn't be the same
0:14:39 > 0:14:42without some exotic vegetables.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46- So this is gutweed. And what we are going to do with the gutweed...- What a delightful name!
0:14:46 > 0:14:49- Gutweed.- I know! It doesn't sound very edible...
0:14:49 > 0:14:51- but it is.- Here's your dinner of limpet and gutweed!
0:14:51 > 0:14:57Throw in some lightly sauteed sea lettuce and the menu is complete.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59Oh, it's going, it's going! Look at that.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03With the foraging kitchen lit in the traditional way,
0:15:03 > 0:15:07it's not long before our lunch alfresco is ready to plate up.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10- Is that cooked? - Yes, it's cooked.- Right.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14- You sure it's not going to kill me? - No, it's not going to kill you(!)
0:15:14 > 0:15:16What are you pulling out of the back of it?
0:15:16 > 0:15:21So this is dinner, Hebridean style?
0:15:21 > 0:15:23- So what do I...? Do I...?- So...
0:15:23 > 0:15:27Do I eat it with the seaweed, or do I eat it first
0:15:27 > 0:15:29and then have some seaweed, or does it not matter?
0:15:29 > 0:15:34- It doesn't matter. Just munch away.- I will just...
0:15:34 > 0:15:36Very gingerly sample a little bit.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38It's a little bit chewy, but...
0:15:40 > 0:15:42Mm.
0:15:42 > 0:15:43Mm.
0:15:43 > 0:15:44Wow!
0:15:44 > 0:15:46Well. It's a real feast.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51Thank you very much indeed.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53- Have we convinced you?- No.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55THEY LAUGH
0:15:55 > 0:15:56Can't beat the location, can you?
0:16:01 > 0:16:05After digesting my limpet feast, I land on Tanera Mor,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08the largest of the Summer Isles.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13Its story is typical of many of our small islands.
0:16:13 > 0:16:18A once thriving community, brought down by economic disaster,
0:16:18 > 0:16:21poor communications and neglect.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25By the 1930s, Tanera was deserted.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28The old homes were in a ruinous state
0:16:28 > 0:16:32and the jetty was literally falling into the sea.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35But this was just the sort of place that a radical young conservationist
0:16:35 > 0:16:39was looking for to prove a point.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45During his lifetime, Frank Fraser Darling became known
0:16:45 > 0:16:49as one of the founding figures of the modern environmental movement.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53He argued that the landscape of the Scottish Highlands and Islands,
0:16:53 > 0:16:59much vaunted for its beauty, was in fact a man-made desert.
0:16:59 > 0:17:00Over the centuries,
0:17:00 > 0:17:05forests had been cut down and people cleared to make way for deer,
0:17:05 > 0:17:08and for sheep farming on a massive scale.
0:17:08 > 0:17:13And the land which lay fallow had become sour and infertile.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15But it didn't have to be that way.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21Fraser Darling moved into an abandoned croft on Tanera Mor
0:17:21 > 0:17:25with his wife and son in 1938.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27He wanted to prove that crofting could be more than just
0:17:27 > 0:17:30subsistence farming and that, with the right husbandry,
0:17:30 > 0:17:34the wet desert of the West Highlands could bloom again.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38Against the odds, they succeeded,
0:17:38 > 0:17:42breathing life back into the moribund island.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46Experiences he described in his book Island Farm.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51"We were peasant folk again, doing first things.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55"The children's happy laughter was a joyous sound.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59"And the golden corn was all about in the golden air
0:17:59 > 0:18:03"as I straightened my back to sharpen the scythe."
0:18:03 > 0:18:07Frank Fraser Darling argued that in order to bring nature back
0:18:07 > 0:18:08to bountiful health,
0:18:08 > 0:18:13people needed to work with the environment instead of against it.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15A landscape full of working crofts
0:18:15 > 0:18:20and people nourishing the soil was his solution to a better future.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28Sadly, the experiment was short-lived.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32After the family left, Tanera Mor had mixed fortunes.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36Until Bill Wilder, a farmer from Wiltshire, bought the island
0:18:36 > 0:18:39and moved here with his family.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42Living here, as you did for 16 years or so,
0:18:42 > 0:18:45were you aware of the legacy of Frank Fraser Darling?
0:18:45 > 0:18:47He was always there in the background.
0:18:47 > 0:18:53We knew he had a great influence on the place,
0:18:53 > 0:18:55put it on the map in many ways.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59But he had been wanting to demonstrate the art,
0:18:59 > 0:19:02if you like, of proper crofting.
0:19:02 > 0:19:07Getting productivity from this very raw, sour ground.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11And he went to huge extremes, they worked enormously hard
0:19:11 > 0:19:17carting fertiliser, lime and seaweed and fertilising the ground.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20- A Herculean effort, actually. - Absolutely.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23He and his wife did do extraordinary things.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27- But for you, living here, what has it been like?- Fabulous.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29It is just a wonderful place to be.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31It is peace and quiet.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33You can get on with what you...
0:19:33 > 0:19:36It is hard graft, and it has kept us very fit over the years,
0:19:36 > 0:19:39but you can concentrate on what you are trying to do
0:19:39 > 0:19:42and get on with it undisturbed, on the whole.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44So would you recommend island life to other people?
0:19:44 > 0:19:48Oh, it would not be everybody's cup of tea, but to a lot of folk,
0:19:48 > 0:19:52it is, and it certainly has been to us, a wonderful life, yes.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00Unlike Frank Fraser Darling, Bill does not work the land,
0:20:00 > 0:20:03but derives an income by renting out holiday property
0:20:03 > 0:20:06and running the island's rather unique post office
0:20:06 > 0:20:10where much sought-after special edition stamps are on sale
0:20:10 > 0:20:12to the dedicated philatelist.
0:20:13 > 0:20:18- So I will just choose a postcard, Bill.- That looks like a nice one.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22- I know you can sell me a very interesting and unique stamp. - Indeed. Yes.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26This one dates back to about 1996, I think.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30But it is an appropriately nautical one. Hopefully...
0:20:30 > 0:20:33So these stamps were produced for Tanera,
0:20:33 > 0:20:35- for the Tanera Mor postal service? Is that right?- Yes.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38Exactly, to pay for the crossing from this
0:20:38 > 0:20:40side of the water to the mainland.
0:20:40 > 0:20:41From the island to the mainland.
0:20:41 > 0:20:46- And then thereafter, I'm afraid you need a Royal Mail stamp.- Royal Mail.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53I'm not surprised the stamps are highly collectable.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55The designs are beautiful.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58There is even a set commemorating Frank Fraser Darling.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04We celebrate, try to celebrate happenings like the centenary
0:21:04 > 0:21:08of the Crofters Act in 1886, the Crofters Act.
0:21:08 > 0:21:13The anniversary of the Scouts, for instance.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17And they are slowly appreciating in value, a little bit by little bit.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19The past issues are all here.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22We have run out of one or two, and of course the fewer there are,
0:21:22 > 0:21:25the more valuable they have become, that is the idea.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32My final destination on this grand tour
0:21:32 > 0:21:35lies just a few miles further north.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39Handa is a spectacular cliff-girt island hugging
0:21:39 > 0:21:40the coast of Sutherland.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45'Year upon year, the sea shapes out the edges of the land
0:21:45 > 0:21:49'into headlands, lochs, inlets, islands.
0:21:49 > 0:21:50'Handa.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54'It is visited each year by a limited number of parties.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58'For the island is a sanctuary, a natural sanctuary for birds.'
0:22:03 > 0:22:04'Handa island.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06'Only one and a half miles square.'
0:22:09 > 0:22:14Before landing on Handa, I take a tour around its impressive coastline
0:22:14 > 0:22:18with Kate Thomson from the Scottish Wildlife Trust
0:22:18 > 0:22:22which manages the island on behalf of Scourie Estate.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25Well, here we are, Kate, surrounded by all these guillemots
0:22:25 > 0:22:29- and I have to say, a very powerful pong of bird poo!- Yeah, absolutely.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33- How many birds nest here? - In the thousands. So...
0:22:33 > 0:22:35Different species obviously in different numbers.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38The most prolific bird we have on Handa is the guillemot
0:22:38 > 0:22:42and at last count we had 56,600 birds.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45On the ledges with the guillemots we have razorbill,
0:22:45 > 0:22:47about 5,000 razorbill.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49The kittiwakes who build an actual proper nest,
0:22:49 > 0:22:53- that you can see just on the lower ledges.- Oh, right.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55And then on the higher reaches of the cliff,
0:22:55 > 0:22:58- you often find fulmar and puffins as well.- Puffins as well?
0:22:58 > 0:23:02- Absolutely.- Everyone's favourite. - Everybody's favourite. - Do you have a favourite?
0:23:02 > 0:23:05Do I have a favourite? I love the guillemot.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07I think they are absolutely beautiful.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10I mean, you get one of the... There are two morphs.
0:23:10 > 0:23:11So you get the bridled form as well,
0:23:11 > 0:23:14- so they have like a ring around the eye, just gorgeous.- Like mascara?
0:23:14 > 0:23:17Yeah, exactly. Like they are going out for a Saturday night.
0:23:17 > 0:23:18- This is a breeding colony.- Yes.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22So, in the winter time, there are not anything like this number of birds?
0:23:22 > 0:23:25No, not at all. In the winter time, there are very few birds here.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29Because all of these birds are true sea birds so they head out into
0:23:29 > 0:23:34the oceans to feed and they survive purely at sea for the whole of the winter.
0:23:34 > 0:23:35And how are they doing?
0:23:35 > 0:23:39Because sometimes they have suffered quite a bit through poor seasons...
0:23:39 > 0:23:40At the moment,
0:23:40 > 0:23:46the population seems to be stabilising in certain species.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50But, for example, the guillemots, they have half the population
0:23:50 > 0:23:52- since the late '90s. - Oh, really?- Yes.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56- It was more like 100,000 guillemots here.- That is tragic, isn't it?
0:23:56 > 0:23:58- Yes, absolutely. - Do you know what the reason is?
0:23:58 > 0:24:01There is lots of speculated reasons.
0:24:01 > 0:24:02And it is probably more than one...
0:24:02 > 0:24:07- It is a combination of negative factors...- Yes, absolutely. - ..impacting the colony.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09Well, still an absolutely remarkable sight
0:24:09 > 0:24:11and a great privilege to be here.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15I'm wondering if we are going to be hit by any poo because there are lots of birds overhead.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17I think we are safe, we are a bit further away at the moment.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20- It is supposed to be good luck. - Well, they say that...!
0:24:24 > 0:24:30Throwing caution to the winds, and risking a direct hit from a well-aimed dollop of guano,
0:24:30 > 0:24:33we try to get as close as we can to the cliffs.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36- They are perched in the most unlikely places, aren't they?- I know.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40- Imagine making a nest up there! - I know, absolutely.
0:24:40 > 0:24:41The guillemots don't seem to have a nest,
0:24:41 > 0:24:44they are just sitting there with their chicks.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46They have got this amazingly conical-shaped egg that just
0:24:46 > 0:24:49- rolls in a circle. It doesn't... - So it doesn't fall off?
0:24:49 > 0:24:51- ..to stop it falling off.- In theory.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53HE CHUCKLES
0:24:53 > 0:24:56And the noise in here as well.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59It is beginning to echo.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03The birds' calling is echoing off the walls.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06It really is a sea bird city. I have never seen anything like this.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15The cliffs of Handa might be teeming with birdlife,
0:25:15 > 0:25:21but the same can't be said of the human population that once lived on the island.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23'There were never many people -
0:25:23 > 0:25:28'12 families at the last official count in 1845 -
0:25:28 > 0:25:31'crofters living off fish from the sea and potatoes
0:25:31 > 0:25:34'from the lazy beds they heaped up on small cultivated patches.'
0:25:37 > 0:25:39- This is the old village, then?- Yes.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43Some of the best examples of the village just right here.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47- But nobody lives here?- Not now.- Not for the last couple of hundred years?
0:25:47 > 0:25:49- 150 years or so?- Since 1848.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51- Do we know why they left?- Yes.
0:25:51 > 0:25:56- It was definitely in part due to the potato famine that had hit.- Really?
0:25:56 > 0:26:00- Yeah.- The same that was ravaging Ireland, as well?- Yeah, exactly.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02There is records of them leaving from Loch Laxford
0:26:02 > 0:26:05on a boat called the Ellen to Nova Scotia.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09- Ah, they went to Nova Scotia. So many did before them.- Yeah.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11It must have been a very harsh existence,
0:26:11 > 0:26:13I can't quite imagine it myself.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20To appreciate just how harsh life was in the past,
0:26:20 > 0:26:22I have returned to the cliffs.
0:26:22 > 0:26:2520 years after the island was abandoned,
0:26:25 > 0:26:27hunger drew other Islanders to Handa
0:26:27 > 0:26:31and the resources of its most famous landmark.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33A 300-foot sea stack.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41That awe-inspiring tower of rock is the Great Stack of Handa.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45It is like an impregnable fortress for the thousands of sea birds
0:26:45 > 0:26:47that nest there every year.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51And they must have felt quite safe from the clutches of hungry islanders
0:26:51 > 0:26:56until, in 1870, a party of men rowed over from Lewis
0:26:56 > 0:26:57and breached its defences.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04To get here, they had to row 27 miles across the Minch,
0:27:04 > 0:27:08a towering enough feat in itself.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11There then followed one of the most extraordinary incidents
0:27:11 > 0:27:15in the long history of wild fowling in the Hebrides.
0:27:15 > 0:27:21What the men did is they draped a long rope from this cliff,
0:27:21 > 0:27:25carried it around the headland to the opposite side of the stack,
0:27:25 > 0:27:31pulled it taut, so the rope was lying on top of the Great Stack of Handa,
0:27:31 > 0:27:35and then climbed, hand over hand, to get to the summit.
0:27:42 > 0:27:47Once on top of the Great Stack, the sea bird colony was at their mercy.
0:27:47 > 0:27:52Now, I am a keen mountaineer, but the prospect of this dizzying feat,
0:27:52 > 0:27:56made without the aid of any specialist climbing equipment,
0:27:56 > 0:28:00fills me with admiration for the men who braved the cliffs of Handa
0:28:00 > 0:28:02to put food on the table.
0:28:03 > 0:28:08Now, this is a truly dramatic location for me to finish my journey.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12And the great cliffs behind me are a reminder of just how harsh
0:28:12 > 0:28:14life was on Handa.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18Because they were at one time a food store for an entire community.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20Now, to the north and west of here,
0:28:20 > 0:28:25are islands that are even more remote and where life was even more difficult.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28But that is a story for another grand tour.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34On my next Grand Tour Of The Scottish Islands,
0:28:34 > 0:28:37I will be joining a race apart on Isla.